Moby magic continues as CSU men defeat SDSU

No. 24 Rams rally past Aztecs

FORT COLLINS -- Leading up to the game, both Larry Eustachy and Dorian Green said that Colorado State plays a pretty simple brand of basketball. Simple, however, doesn't have to be boring.

Playing the program's first game as a nationally ranked team, the No. 24 Rams thoroughly entertained a sold-out Moby Arena crowd Wednesday night, beating San Diego State 66-60 to reach 20 wins for the eighth time in team history.

"I thought that was as good a game that I've been involved with in a long, long time," said Eustachy, whose team won for the fifth straight time to improve to 20-5 and 7-2 in the MW. "We just made plays down at the end, and I thought the game could've gone either way.

0214 SPO CSU_02-srs.jpg Colorado State University senior Pierce Hornung, right, goes up for a shot in the first half of a game against San Diego State on Wednesday, Feb. 13, 2013 at Moby Arena in Fort Collins, Colo.
(
Steve Stoner
)

"It was an unbelievable atmosphere, as good as I've been in."After the two squads played to a 35-all tie in the first half, the second half was an edge-of-your-seat, can't-get-up-to-go-to-the-bathroom 20 minutes of hoops. Neither team was able to pull ahead by more than three until the final 1:05, when the Rams closed the game on an 8-0 run, igniting the 8,745 orange-clad fans to erupt at an ear-ringing level.

The finishing stretch was very much the Dorian Green show. The senior first hit a 3-pointer to give his team a 61-60 lead, then came back and scored a traditional three-point play, putting the Rams ahead four with just 17 seconds left.

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"I was trying to be aggressive and take what they give me," Green said. "We're going to have to step up in key moments, and tonight it was me. Offensively I hit those shots, but everybody's done it throughout the season."

The Rams once again controlled the boards with a 43-31 edge on the glass. No rebound was bigger than Pierce Hornung's offensive corral with just more than a minute to go, which set up Green's go-head 3.

"Pierce maybe made the play of the game with that offensive rebound," said Green, who also had a game-best six assists. "We just made enough plays at the end of the game to pull this one out."

Reserve sophomore guard Jon Octeus gave the Rams a huge boost midway through the second half, nailing a jumper to give the Rams a 52-51 lead with 9:11 to play before sinking a 3 a couple minutes later to tie it at 54-all.

Hornung matched up defensively for much of the contest against Jamaal Franklin. Last season's Mountain West player of the year finished with 11 points on 4-of-13 shooting. Chase Tapley led the Aztecs with 16 points, but he too shot poorly, going 6-of-14 from the floor.

"He's a heck of a player. He does everything well and he's very athletic," Hornung said of Franklin. "We just made it a point to try and limit what he does."

As they did in the teams' first matchup, the Aztecs were unusually effective from the 3-point line early, making their first three to jump out to an early 11-5 lead. But that advantage was soon erased and turned into a five-point Rams lead following a 9-2 run.

SDSU went back up four a couple times in the closing minutes of the first half before a Green transition layup helped the Rams tie it at 35-all at the half. CSU shot well in the initial frame (12-of-26, 46.2 percent) but turned uncharacteristically sloppy with the ball, turning it over eight times. They came in averaging just 11.1 giveaways, and were able to clean things up in the second half with just three turnovers.

With the win, CSU kept pace with first-place New Mexico, remaining a half-game behind the Lobos, who beat Fresno State 54-48 earlier in the night. The Rams now head out on the road Saturday to play Air Force, which beat UNLV on Saturday to improve to 15-8 and 6-4 in the conference.

New coordinator pushes Buffs to work, play at level he expectsJim Leavitt has discovered this much about his new defense at Colorado: He has some talent with which to work, but his players need to put it in another gear. Full Story

New coordinator pushes Buffs to work, play at level he expectsJim Leavitt has discovered this much about his new defense at Colorado: He has some talent with which to work, but his players need to put it in another gear. Full Story